Friday, August 28, 2009

Pasta with MGC pesto

What does MGC stand for? WAIT AND SEE.

Ingredients
  • 1 lb pasta (we used ziti)
  • 1/2 lb collards (the C), stems removed, leaves chiffonaded and then washed
  • 1/2 lb mustard greens (the MG), stems removed, leaves torn and then washed
  • the juice and zest of 1/2 of a small lemon
  • 3 tbsp parmesan cheese
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp dried basil flakes
  • 2 Laughing Cow triangles (alternatively, 2 oz. of creamy cheese)
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • water, until the texture is right
  • 1 small tomato, chopped
In a large saucepan, add the collards and a few tablespoons of water. Cover the pot and put over medium/high heat. Cook until the collards have wilted, about 5 minutes.
Once the collards have wilted, add the mustard greens. Add more water, if necessary. Cover again and cook until the MG have cooked down. This shouldn't take long - keep an eye on it.
Once they've cooked down, add the garlic, salt, basil flakes, and pepper. Mix until incorporated.
Heat a pot of water for the pasta. When it's boiling, cook the pasta.
Remove the MG&C from the stove and put in a blender. To the blender, add olive oil and lemon juice/zest. Blend until thoroughly blended. Add more oil and/or water if the mixture gets too thick. Add the cheeses. Blend some more.
The pasta should be cooked by now. Drain it and return the pasta to the pot.
Add the MG&C pesto to the pasta. Stir until the pasta is thoroughly coated.
Add chopped tomatoes on top.
Devour.

Thoughts: OH MY GOD. SHUT UP. THIS IS AWESOME. But seriously, I was expecting the pesto to taste like any other pesto (we've made pesto with things like kale and swiss chard etc...), but it does not. It has this really interesting, savory flavor. We really lucked out. The greens paired really well with both the chopped tomato and the lemon. And this was hella easy. To be honest, I like this version of pesto better than traditional pesto. I would eat this all day. Sweet fancy Moses.

Disaster Index: Can I give a -1? 1/10 I guess

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